This is one of the best films ever made about World War II, and the
chances are good you've never heard of it. It was the most expensive
movie ever made in Holland, a genuine epic on a Hollywood-like scale.
It may be the best depiction by anyone, anywhere, about the
uncomfortably close relationship between the Nazis and the people in
the countries they occupied. This movie is still controversial in
Holland for its unflinching honesty in showing that collaborators
weren't always greedy opportunists, but usually just ordinary people
whose motivations varied widely.

It is about World War II, but there are no scenes of actual battlefield
combat; it's rigorous in its focus on the Dutch to the point where we
never see a single American. Though working on a budget modest by
Hollywood standards, Verhoeven, cinematographer Jan de Bont and art
director Roland de Groot recreate the time frame -- 1938-1945 -- with
convincing authority. Not just the buildings, but the clothing,
hairstyles, even attitudes, seem utterly real, utterly of their time.
In historical films, it's not just the broad strokes but the detail
that flesh things out, make the past pop into reality, and "Soldier of
Orange" is rich with these details.

The movie was based on an autobiographical novel by Erik Hazelhoff, who
was a wealthy student at the University of Leiden, briefly active in
the Resistance, then flew for the Royal Air Force before becoming the
aide de camp to exiled Dutch Queen Wilhelmina. In fact, in the newsreel
footage that opens the film -- some real, some faked -- you can, as
Verhoeven's superb commentary track points out, see the real Erik
Hazelhoff.

Rutger Hauer, young, blond and beautiful, plays Erik Lansof, the
character based on Hazelhoff. As the movie opens, as a freshman he and
his friends go through a painful hazing at the Corps Minerva
fraternity. The fraternity president, Guus LeJeune (Jeroen
Krabb&#233;) singles out Erik, but soon thereafter, they become
close friends. Among their other friends are Jacques Ten Brinck (Dolf
de Vries), Jewish boxer/student John (Huib Rooymans), careful,
practical Nico (Lex van Delden), Germany-favoring Alex (Derek de Lint),
and Erik's neighbor, Robby (Eddy Habbema), who's forever on the verge
of becoming engaged to Esther (Belinda Meuldijk), who's Jewish, and who
herself is more than attracted to Erik.

When Germany invades Poland, most of these young men are relatively
uncaring; Erik even suggests that "a spot of war" might be fun. But
when Germany invades Holland, and the conflict ends in four days with
the capitulation of the Dutch government and the flight of Queen
Wilhelmina to England, things swiftly change. Nico becomes involved in
the quickly-developing Resistance movement, while Robby sets up a
clandestine radio operation in his back yard, trading information with
contacts in England. Alex was in the Dutch Army intending to fight the
Germans, but with the collapse of the Dutch government, he joins the
GERMAN army.

Erik's insouciance begins to fade, and with Robby's help, he makes
plans to escape to England, but at the last minute, decides to allow
John to take his place. But this ends disastrously. Eventually, though,
Guus and Erik do reach England, where they're immediately coopted into
espionage efforts, and where both are attracted to British Susan (Susan
Penhaligon).

Though some elements of the story feel familiar -- the group of
friends, their activities before and during the war, how their
characters are revealed -- the perspective is fresh and unusual.
Holland was one of those countries, like Belgium, that the big
countries ran over like adults tromping through children's sandboxes,
peripheral to the "important" countries, like France, Germany, England
and Italy. But it was indeed a world war, and every country in Europe
was profoundly affected.

Verhoeven is unusually realistic in his refusal to falsify the record
of his countrymen; some behave heroically, some behave like traitors --
and yet he does not actually judge any of them. Alex is drawn into the
German army because of his already pro-German leanings, and because his
mother is of German descent. When Erik re-enters Holland as a spy, he
unexpectedly encounters Alex at a lavish, Nazi-sponsored ball. To cover
their reactions, they go into a flashy tango, trading bitter quips, but
Alex does not give him away.

According to the excellent production notes on the back of the DVD
cover, Verhoeven was initially reluctant to cast Rutger Hauer, with
whom he'd worked a couple of times, as the aristocratic Erik. But Hauer
proves to be an absolutely ideal choice; he seems patrician, outgoing
but self-involved, a hero who's more interested in adventure than in
righting wrongs. Erik is suave but not dashing, intelligent but not
scheming, trusting but not naive. This may be the best performance of
Hauer's career, but he's always good. It's such a goddamned shame that
he so rarely gets good roles in the United States.

Jeroen Krabb&#233; is also excellent, even more aristocratic than
Erik, even more interested in serving in the war for adventure's
reasons. But once committed, he's in it all the way. The brave are not
always those with a cause; sometimes they're brave because it is in
their nature to be brave. On this side of the Atlantic, Krabb&#233;
has generally been cast in villainous or darker roles, but he's capable
of a much wider range. And he works extremely well with Hauer.

This is the best film of Verhoeven's Dutch period, and possibly his
best film ever, although in America, with titles like "RoboCop," "Basic
Instinct" and "Starship Troopers," he was able to give vent to his love
of excess. "Soldier of Orange" is much less flamboyant, much more
realistic. It's deeply engrossing; you wish it ran four hours rather
than the two and a half it lasts.

As with their recent collection of Werner Herzog titles, Anchor Bay has
released most of Paul Verhoeven's Dutch-language films in
beautifully-packaged editions. The sound, though mono, is crisp and
clean, and the colors rich and dark-toned. The film seems to have been
given a new set of subtitles, better than those on the 1979 US
theatrical release.

The extras are relatively standard -- biographies, a trailer, etc. --
but the commentary track by Verhoeven is way above average, partly
because, as a director, HE is way above average. (Surely we can forgive
him "Showgirls" by now.) His lively, clipped voice, full of enthusiasm
and graced with a colorful though easily understood accent, underlines
and explains scene after scene in an ingratiating, entertaining manner.
And he's often funny.

War epics like this are usually described as "sweeping," but "Soldier
of Orange" is too intimate, too personal for that; it takes you to a
time and place and involves you with interesting people in a manner
that too few films of any kind do. It's an outstanding movie.

Footnote: the insert shows that Dutch ads for films can be as wildly inappropriate as those for American movies.